Mr. Watanabe was on of the very few Japanese artists exploring stencil printing, a folk art whose results somewhat resemble wood blocks.  The colors are defined on smoke-cured paper with dye resistance paste.  Watanabe was very much involved in the Japanese folk art movement.  Baptized a Christian in 1930, he based his designs exclusively on biblical subjects.  His style shows the influence of Buddhist figure prints.  A number of these prints illustrating the life of Jesus were formed into a montage for the Willet Hauser Studios to create a back-lighted leaded stained glass screen for Westminster Presbyterian Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan.